United States
United Kingdom
Signet Jewelers, the world’s largest diamond retailer, has started piloting Tracr, an end-to-end diamond blockchain developed by De Beers Group in collaboration with the Diamond industry.
The Tracr blockchain will provide the verifiable, tamper proof digital link for diamonds – from the moment it is mined to the time it reaches the retailer – being sold by Signet.
The Signet project team will work in tandem with the Tracr team to ensure the platform satisfies the needs of jewelry manufacture and retail sectors. The partnership will initially focus on tracking diamond jewelry and later on expand the scope to serve smaller-sized goods.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Signet to the Tracr pilot programme. Tracr is focussed on bringing the benefits of blockchain technology to the full diamond value chain – providing consumers with confidence, the trade with increased efficiency and lower costs, and lenders to the industry with greater visibility. Signet has deep insights into the needs of consumers, and our collaboration will ensure that consumers remain the focus of Tracr.”
Virginia Drosos, CEO, Signet Jewelers, said
“Responsible sourcing of diamonds has always been an integral part of Signet’s corporate ethos, and this will be further strengthened through our cooperation with Tracr. We are joining the Tracr pilot because we believe the project not only has strong potential to facilitate increased transparency and confidence within the industry, but it can also foster much-needed digital transformation.”
For each diamond registered on its platform, Tracr will create a digital certificate that stores key attributes and transactions. This will enable retailers to guarantee customers that the diamonds are natural and conflict-free.
De Beers Group, with assistance from BCG Digital Ventures, developed Tracr, which is expected to be commercially launched later this year. Notably, in early May, De Beers Group had announced the successful tracking of 100 high value diamonds along the entire value chain on Tacr. It was the first time, a diamond’s transit was tracked digitally, all the way from mine to retail.
Headquartered in Ohio, Signet jewelers operates in the Canadian, American, and British markets. The company has a market share of about 7% in the US Jewelry market. Being the numero uno among diamond retailers in the market it operates, Signet generated revenue of $3.80 billion in 2017.
